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Analysis Of T. S. Eliot's Heart Of Darkness

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In “The Wasteland,” T.S. Eliot’s purpose in his poem is to convey a message that intelligence and awareness of the world is becoming more and more scarce. Eliot wrote his poem after reading Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, which has an underlying message of ignorance. Eliot uses this to create his own message of ignorance through imagery and symbolism. His poem is complex and difficult to understand for a reason: he wants his readers to realize that if they do not understand his poem, then they are lacking the knowledge they should already possess. Heart of Darkness has multiple messages about humankind and imperialism, but its most prominent idea is that humankind as a whole has ceased to involve itself in immense growth. In the novel, …show more content…

Eliot’s poem, titled “The Burial of the Dead,” he uses a lack of water to show the absence of fertility in the minds of modern Europe. Eliot very closely relates his ideas to those in Heart of Darkness. In the poem, the narrator says, “Your arms full; and your hair wet, I could not / Speak, and my eyes failed, I was neither / Living nor dead, and I knew nothing” (Eliot 38-40). Water has become quite scarce, but when water becomes available, people remain empty of knowledge. There is water right in front of the narrator’s face, but because the narrator does not take the chance to get to know it, this person remains ignorant. This relates to the river in Heart of Darkness once again, because in both cases the water is available, but the people do not want to be involved. Further, the narrator says, “Oed’ und leer das Meer” (Eliot 42), which means “desolate and the empty seas.” Eliot mentions that there is now a lack of water in this environment in order to make a comment on society. The lack of water represents the idea that society’s minds have become dry and barren. All the water dried up because people were no longer there to nurture it and keep it alive. Eliot wants us to know that because of our own shortcomings, we are leading to our demise. We are not growing, and we are not thriving. We are just simply existing like an empty

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“The cry of a tormented man had come to the peaceful green mystery of my river, and the great presence of the river watched from the shadows and deep recesses.”

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In T.S. Eliot’s work “The LoveSong of J. Alfred Prufrock”, he uses diction to give an underlying meaning and tone to his poem in order to express the downfall of a man. The author uses his diction to give this poem Its tone as if he regrets what he did in life. He also shows great tone changes in this work, giving this poem a dramatic, almost tragic outlook. Many of his word choices also give his work an underlying meaning and adds to his theme and messages. A large part of his poem is also using metaphors to add to this underlying meaning and give more force to this tone he is trying to create.

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Lenny Abrahamson’s drama film Room follows Joy and her five-year-old son Jack and their experiences of living in a tiny room with only so much space. Throughout the film, both aspects of low-key lighting and high-key lighting are filmed in various scenes. These lighting styles indicate both the rough and unstable atmosphere of living in just one small room as well as the freedom of escaping the small room and starting a new chapter in their lives. In addition, both lighting styles also play an important role in the film’s plot and set the mood for the plot by either adding suspense or relief. Room narrates the story of Joy and her son Jack’s lives as they are trapped in a very small shelter that they refer to as Room.

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In the novel Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger readers are introduced to a young man named Holden Caulfield who introduces himself and begins to tell his story of how and why he left his school; Pencey Prep. In the story, Holden explains how he is being kicked out of school and doesn't want his parents to know and so leaves school early. throughout the story, Holden explains what happens to him before he must go home and act like he is home from school for a break instead of being kicked out. When it comes to the topic of Author's purpose of The will of individual vs the will of the majority some will think the purpose is to show that Holden going against the will of society to rebel, however, I think the author’s purpose of The Catcher in the Rye was to show that the individual will manifest in his desire for isolation comes from his is fear and damage done by fear of pain, failure, rejection, and is unwilling or unable to go along with the majority. This all shown through Imagery, symbolism, and diction.

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As stated in “The Ponds” chapter, “A field of water betrays the spirit that is in the air. It is continually receiving new life and motion from above. It is intermediate between land and sky.” (Page Number). This conveys to the reader that the study of nature could replace and oppose our enslavement by understanding that the pond is the human soul as the connection between earth and heaven, surviving in an earthly realm but suggesting a peaceful world just above, in the sky, which reflects into the pond.

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Eliot are distinctly dissimilar, the messages expressed through these two excerpts are the same. Lines 203-212 in act V scene i. of Hamlet and Lines 66-75 in section I of The Wasteland both reflect the idea of the speakers that our actions in life are futile. This universal theme that is expressed in both works tells us that we are all connected through

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Eliot twists the expected symbolism of water which is life, but Eliot uses water to show there is no life. As this is done, Eliot tries to connect with water throughout The Wasteland. Eliot’s message by seeking water, but there is none shows that The Wasteland seeks a living source but a living object cannot make it through The Wasteland. Since there is no

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To be bluntly honest, after having gotten to page 8 without having understood a word of the text, I was very frustrated. Not only did Heart of Darkness have an old-fashioned English style of writing but the first few pages were completely filled with references, symbols, metaphors and vivid imagery. I found myself either looking up each metaphor to understand it better or rereading each imagery because of its vividness. Thankfully, as the book progressed and Marlow’s story began, the plot became clearer and the story started to carry on more smoothly. I have come to realize that Heart of Darkness can be regarded as a story within a story.

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